Decisions
by Koten123
Summary: Any past, present, or probable future circumstance molds the way a trainer responds to their most critical question- When do I quit training? The hardest parts about training aren't the blood, sweat, and tears put in, or the negative connotations of trainer life. The hardest parts are deciding to quit living life normally with the battle scars of the world's greatest job.
1. Chapter 1

Training isn't hard.

Well let me change that.

Training shouldn't be hard. It shouldn't be the hardest thing we have to face in our scope of life or they wouldn't mandate it now.

Sure there are those close calls with death. Those lonely nights, wishing we could go back home because the diseases of nostalgia and sentimentality have set in. Or those days where you just wanted to throw in the towel, pay the fine, and give up. The long hours put into each and every member of your team, human and pokemon alike, because you needed to stay on top of your game to survive in that tumultuous world. Maybe it was the betrayal felt when a companion let you down or you let yourself fall even harder than anyone could have ever done. Or what about the pain, the agony, the sharp, dull, everlasting, yet so quick, heartbreak that manifests when your pokemon dies, or you have to release it, or your friends die, or you feel every little remnant of the person you used to be fade away.

No, training shouldn't be hard because, eventually, you grow, you learn, you get used to it. The pain ebbs away, the fears dissipate, the nostalgia promotes growth and motivates, the deaths proliferate life, and those long hours, propagated by the sting of failure and the promise of success, pay off. Each win becomes as sweet as honey and every loss serves as a motivating factor. Being a trainer inspires, conquers weakness, and molds capable and resourceful citizens.

It changes a person. No, not their core values and personalities, in fact, if anything, those values and personalities are strengthened, solidified because those are one of the only constants that you have to fall back on. But the little things, maybe an opinion; a style of living; a fear; these are the things that are changed. These are the things that eventually make you into someone new. The shy, become confidently shy. The nervous, solid as stone. The indecisive, probably stay indecisive, but to a lesser degree. The heroes can become villains, and your villain might rise up to become a hero, or at least an anti-hero.

What should be hard, the thing that is hard, if you consider part of training, are the decisions you have to make while training. Do you form close bonds? Do you subject yourself to love? Can you afford to settle down? Will your psyche allow you to give up? Will you ever stop training? It's a constant battle, making decisions, anticipating their outcomes, and then dealing with their consequences. Not because it will change you as a trainer, or make training more difficult, it's because that decision to stop. The ultimate choice of when and where in your life to stop training becomes hard to make. Your life becomes training, becomes waiting, becomes battling, becomes escaping, turns into strategy, stays like warfare. Your life life is now tinted by a hue that resembles the life you've chosen to give up. Those productive citizens, though successful, yearn for that rush of battle, of war, of surviving, but circumstances, one or the other prevents from doing so. Sure, there's always recreation, battling in offhand tournaments, some exhibitions here and there, but there's nothing quite the same as that environment of being in that world. Of being a real trainer. Some of us never quit. There are still those today, late in age, who still fight the good fight. Who still train and try with their teams of old and new pokemon alike. Those who have left, and will continue to leave, their mark on the society as a whole because of their zeal and love for their practice.

Me? Well that information cannot be disclosed at this instant, but do know I've carefully considered my past, present, and probably circumstances and they've shaped my decision.

But the first experience that shaped this choice was my acquiring of my starter.

This is the story of how I took on the world of training with nothing but intuition, passion, and a Minun.


	2. Chapter 2

Rather than rejoice or celebrate the receiving of my starter, I pouted. Little, puny fourteen-year old me cried, whined, and begged for something else other than this little pathetic looking rabbit in front of me. It looked up at me with a hopeful gleam, a rather childish smile, and a babyish stance.

I turned and caught the glance of my teacher in front of me. He looked apologetic, but I couldn't stand the expression on his face. After years of evaluation, hours of studying me,:my art of battling, my style of training, he and his advisors decided I deserved a minun, one of the lowest pokemon on the electrical tier, beating out the hardly even worse pokemon of dedenne, and maybe, _maybe,_ a pachirisu.

"Gerand, your journey as a pokemon trainer starts today. I know you know about all the opportunities that this opens up for you, and I also know you understand why this profession is mandated for children of your age. Please make sure to take care of this pokemon and treat it with the upmost care, it might go on to save your life."

"Save my life? Take care of it? What about me? How am I supposed to live out there with a minun? It can't even _evolve,_ it's goddamned nearly useless without a plusle. You're sending me out there to _die, DIE!"_

Dramatic. Maybe. Ok yes, entirely. As you can tell, I did not die. And my minun did prove to be more useful than I thought, even without a plusle. But damn, do I wish I had caught one when I could.

"I understand your feelings, but this is what me and the Advisory Board think would work best with you and your style of training. Do keep in mind-"

"So you're saying I'm weak, a tiny support pillar. A piece of trash. A joke. A complement. Something that can only support. Incompetent on my own-"

And that's how it went for the next ten minutes. My teacher, some, rather seedy, thirty year old man who had dedicated too much of his life dedicated to morning cups of coffee and not enough facial cleanser, would try to go through the rest of his speech and the guidelines associated with me becoming a trainer and how to properly take care of my pokemon- which yes, I did listen to; I wanted some chance at living- and me trying my hardest to change their decision and then me insulting him when he ignored my requests.

"So, thank you for your attendance and dedication to your studies. You have been one of brighter students in recent years." This was an understatement. I had graduated third in my class, and our class had some of the best grades that any class had had in several generations of students.

"Then why am I getting a min-"

"So, now I bid you a goodbye, and hope that you take advantage of all the opportunities and circumstances that come your way." He swiped a hand over his sweaty, oily, porous face and gave me a small smile, waving his other hand towards the door. I glared at him for another good second and turned around, tightening my grip on the strap on my messenger bag. Before exiting the door, I looked at my teacher one more time and said:

"Before I leave, I want you to know that your breath stinks, you need to shower, and find yourself a girlfriend, or a boyfriend, a dog, something. You need to get a life. And another thing! What kind of opportunities are gonna come my way with having a minun. Like what the fuc-"

He cut me off by slamming the door in my face. I immediately shut up with a boyish squeal; my left index finger hung limply in the air, curled as if it needed to be a hook. I felt a tug on the hair on my legs and I looked down.

It was the minun.

My pokemon.

"What am I supposed to do with you?" I pouted. I swiped a stray clump of blond, oily hair from my eyes- at fourteen, personal hair care wasn't my biggest concern at that point in time. I stared it down with a sort of blank look on my face, but I remember my pokemon looking at me as some sort of guide or shepherd.

Or it's trainer.

I sighed deeply, but nodded my head in the direction of the door.

"Alright let's go."

I sat on a bench close to the edge of the town, in the middle of the local park. The minun, whom I still hadn't named yet, ran in small circles around poles, rolled in piles of grass, and generally acted like the baby pokemon it was.

I had started to think of a list of names, most of them negative and derogative towards the little pokemon, to eventually name my pokemon so I wouldn't have to constantly remind myself of its species.

"Worthless," I joked to myself with a smirk on my face. "Hopeless. Small. Puny. Pitiful."

And it was like that for the next five minutes- a constant stream of degradation and insults thrown at a pokemon who couldn't even hear me.

Laughable.

Disappointment.

Horrible.

Death Trap.

Pollutant.

I mumbled each word to myself, a whisper really, directed at my pokemon, but indirectly, each word was driven into my heart like a steak knife- a piercing shock, a blood rendering slash, a numbing pain, a lasting scar.

Did I realize this at the time? Ha, no. I was much too big, much too prideful, a little too boastful of my abilities and I avoided any of my, believed to be, nonexistent limitations. I was determined with an air of arrogance and nothing could stop me: not the world, not my own imperfections, and definitely not some scrawny minun.

Anyway, I spent a few extra minutes on the bench, contemplating names- none of which were appropriate. The sun was starting to set when I decided to head back to my dorm. I prayed that my roommate wasn't home: I don't think I could stand their endless, stupid teasing.

My roommate's name was Bryant Langford. He was in the top thirty of our class, number twenty-six or something , a jokester of sorts, who used too much sarcasm in my opinion. He was a couple of months older than me, making him fifteen to my fourteen. He had a nonchalance for most situations and a coolness for most people. Fortunately, he was someone I actually liked as a person; he was someone I could openly insult without any fear of an emotional response.

I was on the sidewalk in front of my dorm hall. A concrete entrance sign that said "Springfield Hall" met my line of sight. The building was a red brick building, one of the older ones on the campus. There were a series of windows every couple of feet apart, mirroring dimples on a face. Right in front of the building were a couple of bushes overgrown with flowers because we were in the middle of spring. There were a couple of students sitting on wooden benches near the perimeter of the building; no one I immediately recognized, so I assumed they were underclassmen.

I walked through the front door, ignoring any smiles or "hi's" directed towards me. I entered the carpet filled hall with a grimace on my face- my roommate was entering our room. I rolled my eyes as far as I could in the back of my head.

 _'Time to deal with his shit'_

I walked under the wooden beams to my front door and pushed open. I was greeted to my small room. A tiny space, with only enough room for our two beds, two small night stands in between them and a closet that barely fit both of our clothing. No TVs were permitted in the rooms, rather there were some in the rec-rooms of each building. Being in one's room was a rather boring endeavor, but one that could easily be taken advantage of if there was the need to study or review.

Which, of course, I didn't need at that point in time.

"Hey Gerand," I gave him a nod of my head, hoping this would discourage any further conversation or question; he chuckled in response.

"Not happy with your pokemon I see; well I'm not either, so yours can't be that bad."

"I think you're wrong about that one," I replied.

"Let me show you mine first than you can show me yours," he winked, eliciting a sound of disgust from me meant to cover up my laugh.

In a flash of light a rather medium sized pokemon was released. It was a sharp, metallic looking thing, its color scheme a mixture of red, black, and silver. It's eyes were slits, the stare giving off a sense of curiosity. Though a steel pokemon, its edges were blunt as it was a new, young, inexperienced pokemon. A steel dark hybrid: a pawniard

"Double weakness to fighting types, a type used by most trainers; not to mention a weakness to fire and ground, and just so many other faults that I could have done without."

This is how most of us viewed our first pokemon, and then some of our pokemon thereafter. We had a rather elementary view of pokemon and type advantages and disadvantages and strategy and life in general. We didn't realize that the real world was not like the simulators that we had been faced with. Pokemon had intuition, they had instinct, they had natural defenses, they had brains, they had morality. But for the most part, most of us were blind to this very important fact.

That pawniard saved his ass more than either of us could count.

When I showed him my minun, I couldn't stand his laughter or the tears that rolled down his eyes as a result from his laughter that I couldn't stand. I couldn't stand him and his laughter that made me couldn't stand him or his tears that resulted from the laughter that I couldn't stand.

Get it?

"What's your pokemon's name, jerk," I asked to try to get the situation away from me.

"Alek, and yours?"

Hmmmmmmm. I thought to myself. I still hadn't settled on anything so I said the first thing that came to my mind.

"Pillar, his name is Pillar."


	3. Chapter 3

Pillar proved to be a little more useful than I had first thought he was.

Ok, at this point in time it wasn't in battle, I'd only had him for a week and students were not supposed to battle their pokemon without any sort of supervision, but Pillar was excellent at finding things for me.

Anytime I lost my jump drive, which to be honest was more than what was necessary, anytime I needed my shoes, socks, ties, t-shirts, new shoelaces, aglets, brushes, combs, or anything else that he could fit in his mouth or tiny paws, Pillar was there to assist at the sound of a whistle.

To be honest, I didn't mind his presence for the most part. He was good company, was actually smart, and didn't do anything that bothered me too much.

This one time, maybe the third day I had him, Pillar managed to find his way into my stash of peanut butter and ate three jars of the stuff before I finally found him- and the fucker managed to even hide his trail, I didn't find out until I'd opened three empty jars.

Anyway, Pillar proved his worth in that aspect, but I was still wary of his skills in battle or his aptitude for survival. Regardless, after the first couple of days with him I was pretty much over most feelings of anger towards the rabbit pokemon, but I was still skeptical about my future with him.

The week after I got him passed in a blur. It was nothing but classes teaching us how to take care of our new pokemon; I had to take a course on proper electric pokemon care and I learned a great bit.

Electric pokemon were rather dangerous, and as one might expect, especially younger, untrained ones. They often had to discharge any excess electricity and they did so at random- any mistake, mishap, or instant of unpreparedness could end up in injury, paralysis, or even death. We were given special collars to put on our pokemon in order to help with that problem, though the instructor did say that wouldn't stop all of the build up, only help a little.

I also learned that training electric types to actually use their electricity accurately was hard too. Their power is something that is untamable in the wild- we cannot direct where lightning is going to go, we cannot tell it who or where to strike, so trying to tell a pokemon where to aim its thunderbolt is a difficult feat. Granted, some attacks couldn't be directed, like discharge for example: that is nothing more than the releasing on built up electricity; it's range is wide and strikes anything within its radius. Training electric pokemon required a special amount of patience and apparent iron will, but as time moved on, the teacher said the pokemon should be able to teach themselves how to manage their own electricity.

But I also learned some things that made me rather happy about having an electric pokemon. If I decided to carry a travel generator with me, I'd never be without power. Due to electricity's relation to magnetism, electric types were natural compasses, always knowing in which direction they were going: which was rather lucky for me, I'm horrible with directions.

As classes faded into some shade of gray, apparently there's fifty of them, so did my spirit. I was ready to leave the mundane, perfunctory schedule of school campus life and rush into the wild with my imagined trusty pokemon team by my side. I dreamed of dragon types, maybe a Garchomp or a Kingdra or a Dragonite, a trusty Charizard, maybe a legendary would come my way if I was lucky enough. My mind was as vast as the world around me- I just didn't know the world was so big at the time.

At the end of the week, it seemed as if timed moved as slow as an athlete's heart was racing- fitter people having slower heart rates and all- and I felt as if I was going insane.

Everything seemed to blend into one stream of consciousness. Classes resembled being in my dorm room, eating felt like sleeping, and doing nothing took more effort than I thought it ever would. I needed a spark of excitement in my life- pun intended- and, as circumstances allowed, I found myself with something to do as time moved on.

It was in the middle of my second week with Pillar; I was sitting on my bed reading a textbook for my Battle Theories class, reading up on skills needed for double battling, nothing that I had any actual interest in at the time. My pokemon was sitting on the window's ledge looking at people and their pokemon as they walked by, eliciting a whine or a form of rabbit-y growl from time to time.

My roommate entered the room with that mischievous smirk on his face that said he was about to do something really bad ass or incredibly stupid.

My guess was the second one, and I was partly right.\

"Blondie, guess what I have planned for us tonight?" I sighed, already annoyed with the guessing game he was going to put me through.

"I don't know; please tell me it's not another double date, you know how well that went last time."

"Oh god no, I would never put a girl through that again, you were horrible."

"I wasn't that bad," I retorted.

"Oh but yes you were, didn't you insult her, something like 'intellectually inferior' or something, and then you- wait wait, I'm getting off topic. I got us an in to an event tonight, I need you to be ready at 9:30 tonight, meet me in front of the entrance of the campus. Bring Pillar."

"That's pass curfew Bryant," he dismissed me with a wave of his hand and walked out of the room, saying something about "being part of the set up crew."

And so I did, anything to cut off this boredom of mine. I put on some newly ironed khaki shorts and a blue t-shirt and I was out the door, Pillar walking by my side.

The thing about our campus, is that most of us are a bunch of nerds, so there usually isn't any trouble from us, which means that security is really relaxed. I was able to make out of the front of my building without any trouble, and getting to the entrance of the campus wasn't that much harder, just hiding behind bushes and running when any guards had their backs turned- 'twas a piece of cake.

I arrived on time and Bryant was there waiting for me, impatiently stamping his foot up and down.

"What took you so long?" I glanced at my watch, I was on time.

"I'm on time," he just shook his head in irritation and grabbed me by the arm. We walked past the entrance and we faced the dirt road that led to our school.

"What are we-"

"Shut up, I'll explain when we get there."

I grumbled but went along with his plan.

We walked down the dirt road in front of the school for a good half a mile before he made a sudden right and took us straight into the forest, in the middle of the night, with nothing to protect us except my Minun.

"Bryant what the fuck are we doing out here!?" I shouted.

"Gerand, shut up we're almost there." With that, he led us deeper into the forest for a good five minutes before he finally stopped, made a sharp right, and planted us on the edges of a circular clearing.

"What are we doing?" I whispered rather loudly.

"You don't have to keep quiet anymore, we're a good couple of miles away from the campus," he replied with a slight air of sarcasm.

"Well let me repeat the question: what are we doing out here in the middle of the forest, in the middle of the night?"

He gave me one of those mischievous smiles are replied: "Well I'm sure you've noticed a lull in excitement on campus. With everyone becoming accustomed to life with their pokemon, things have kind of simmered down."

"Your point being?"

"My point is, me and some other students noticed and decided to start a tradition a little earlier than normal."

"You mean-"

"The underground Battle Royale."

The Underground Battle Royale was a right of passage for the students at the Academy. Students who were at the top of their classes, the most popular, or those known for doing anything daring or who just plain stood out, were invited to the event. From the rumors, the winner of the Royale was the trainer who was most likely to be the most successful trainer from that year. I had a surge of hope: ' _maybe that could be me,'_ I thought.

Well I thought before I saw the minun by my leg.

"Everyone else should be here in a second. It officially starts in ten minutes," I nodded and walked away from him.

The clearing was about fifty feet in diameter and resembled more of an oval than anything. The grass was crudely cut and I realized it was done by the work of pokemon. ' _So that's what Bryant meant by prep crew.'_

It didn't take too long for people to start rolling in. Within five minutes of us getting there, a steady stream of participants flowed in. Some I recognized.

Andy Perkins, class clown and school idiot. Notorious for his pranks and general annoyingness, Perks, what everyone called him, was definitely only here because he was widely known. If I remember correctly, at the time he only had a mime jr. as his pokemon. Nothing to be too excited over.

The next person I recognized was Lucas Steel, probably the most popular student at our school and with good reason. He was a sports legend, running for the track team, star receiver on our football team, and he had a natural propensity for tennis. He was incredibly intimidating when you first met him, but from personal experience- having several classes with him and what not- he wasn't that bad of a person to be around. His pokemon was Tyrogue. Rather fitting.

Next was Nathan Tiddle - one of my best friends with one of the most ridiculous last names. He was Hoennese, with sun kissed skin , sarcastic, and one of the friendliest guys I've ever known, though our banter may say otherwise. He had short cut black hair, the thickest eyebrows I've ever seen on a person, and a smile that resembled the sun. Did I mention he was our class' number four. He had the brain of a genius and the battling skills to match as I would soon find out. He had a Vulpix by his side

With him was my other best friend, Alexandra Knight, resident red head with the greatest bed head. She had a mind to match her creativity and the eyebrows that models would die for. She stood more than a foot below me, being only 4'2, but she had the heart of a warrior and the disposition of a, well, knight. She had an Eevee accompanied with her.

"Thick brows, Alex nice to see you guys here," I reached in to give Alex a hug and flipped Nate the bird.

"Hope you're ready to lose dill weed," Nathan retorted, his smile seeming to add light to the poorly lit area.

Several more people showed up, none being too much more important or ones that I could care to remember and the tournament bracket was being made. It was a randomized bracket with 8 preliminary matches, then another round, then the semi-finals, and the finals.

Luck would have it, I was placed against Andy Perkins in the third round, but for the first round, it was Alex against Lucas Steel. I could hear the blush creeping up Alex's face.

"How am I supposed to beat him?" she asked, red creeping up her cheeks.

"With a mixture of strategy and bad assery," Nathan replied.

She rolled her eyes and took her place on the makeshift battlefield. She stood in a crudely made dirt box, only about fifty or so yards away from her opponent. It was a cramped battled field when considering length, but there was enough width to it to keep it from being too congested.

A kid from my _Psychology of Being a Trainer_ class was the referee for the matches, except during his, when someone else took over. He was a puny guy, with an unmemorable face.

"Ok, guys um, this is one pokemon each, and the battle ends when one person's pokemon can't fight any longer, or one you guys decide to give up, or whatever. Release both of your pokemon on the count of three."

In a flash of blinding light, the first battle of the night commenced.


	4. Chapter 4

Alex's Eevee and Lucas' tyrogue took to the field in slight confusion. This wasn't a classroom, nor was this one of the school made fields, so any hesitation was normal. The patch of clearing we were on, in the middle of a forest right outside the school, was a stark contrast to the controlled environments of a school battlefield.

Alexandra's eevee was a source of envy in the school. Only a few students out of every class every got one, and if I'm being honest, I was one of those kids who harbored a little resentment - especially when I looked over my shoulder and saw Pillar comfortablly sitting next to my neck. The mammalian evolution pokemon was short with sandy brown fur; the "scarf" of lighter fur around its collar bristled with spiky hair.

"Mona," the normal fox pokemon's ears perked at its name. Alex pointed towards the tyrogue, who was also looking at his trainer for commands, and said: "Growl." Arching its back, Mona let out a feral growl towards her opponent, though the severity of the growl left much to be desired.

In a flash the tyrogue was upon Eevee, a leg lifted into the air in a devastating looking roundhouse-kick.

"Dodge, Mona!" The mammalian pokemon tried to double-back, but in an instant the fighting type's palm slapped her way.

"Nice fake out Paulie, let's go for the tackle."

Mona shook out the stinging slapped that sent her some yards away from 'Paulie.' With some quick thinking, Alex commanded for a dodge and a sand attack that created a cloud of dirt that surrounded the fighting pokemon.

"Tackle Mona." The fox pokemon darted in and out of the cloud, continuously knocking itself into the side of Paulie. Each bulleted attack elicited a shriek of discomfort from Tyrogue, but the typing advantage in its favor kept it standing relatively strong.

"Go for the tackle Paulie." It rushed into the dust cloud to bomb rush its opponent, but it missed by a long shot and dived into the ground.

"Respond with your own tackle, Mona, end this before it can get up," jumping out of the cloud, eevee landed and, with a not-so-mighty- roar, slammed its body into tyrogue's.

It was clear that Paulie was down and out for the count when it didn't respond to Lucas' pleas to get up; and just like that the match was over in about two to three minutes. A little more lack luster than I had hoped for if you had asked me at the time. That and it went against the principle of the basic typing advantage. Though Tyrogue's evolutionary line didn't learn fighting type moves until they get older, it should have offered more a little more resistance than what I'd viewed - at least that's what the simulators seemed to present as fact.

However, this was the only battle that seemed to shock me; the next ones were predictable in terms of type advantages, and when there wasn't any obvious advantage, those with higher ranks and grades tended to end up on top.

Nathan ended up winning his first battle, his vulpix easily taking out a pidgey that could hardly keep up with the speedy fire type that could attack from long range. The little bird ended up singed in the grass a couple of feet away as it tried to hide in the trees of the forest that surrounded us. The old bones of the berry trees and grand oaks couldn't protect it from the onslaught that the Vulpix provided. Definitely, one of the more entertaining battles of the night. The Hoenn native smiled as his vulpix, Coal, nipped at his ear when Nathan picked him up after their victory.

Soon it was my turn. To say I was nervous was an understatement. In my head, this was incredibly different from the controlled battle situations in class where any outside factors were taken out for a practical lesson. Granted, I wasn't too far from the truth - this was a battle in which there were more confounding variables, but not to the degree I exaggerated them to be.

Looking back, it was a battle of noobs

My opponent, Andy Perkins, resident class clown, had a Mime Jr. as his partner. Mime jr are a weird breed of psychic pokemon- really a weird pokemon in general- in my opinion. They're very - hmmmm - noncombatant, if that makes sense. Not saying that they can't fight, the fuckers can be a terror on the battlefield being part psychic and what not, but rather, Mime jr.'s and their evolution, Mr Mime's, would rather not battle. Their lives are not too unlike that of humans - having families, mostly nuclear, with their own systems of economy and social ethics and classifications of descent if the groups get big enough. Instead of traditional battling, a seasoned mime can create these barriers that are basically impenetrable - barriers stronger than your average protect. The barriers seem to live on their own, defending their conjurers with a vengeance that spells disaster for the attacker. It's said that the mimes can put their mind into the invisible walls leaving their body as a hollow cavity until the threat has been neutralized. One Mr. Mime isn't too hard to handle- if you know what you're doing - but groups of them are too dangerous to attack; to assail a colony of these powerful street clowns is a death wish. Good for the world that these pokemon normally only attack when threatened and actually enjoy the company of people.

And good for me I wasn't dealing with a hardened mime pokemon.

"Both trainers may start now," the child of a referee called out nonchalantly with the flippant twist of his wrist.

"Quick attack!" I yelled excitedly.

My battle style at that age was easily explained - a tactic of quick, hard hitting attacks that could quickly incapacitated opponents. Not a bad one, but not a great one either as I would later find out.

(A tip for any uprising trainer: battling is an art and art cannot be rushed; sometimes it is the tirtouga that wins the race, and a well thought out, and sometimes drawn out, plan is what is needed in order to win a battle or even safe your life.)

Pillar rushed towards his opponent in a streak of pale yellow, kicking up dirt with every stride. When it seemed that impact was inevitable, Mime Jr. danced away with a teasing smile on its face.

"Dance Bobo dance!" Andy shouted, a smirk tugging at the side of his cheeks

And dance it did. Pillar tried his hardest to catch the thing, but Bobo twirled, whirled, and shimmied his way out of Pillar's line of attack.

"Confusion Bobo, let's go." The mimic pokemon spun once more away from Pillar's body, then extended out his tiny, mitten-esque hands, creating air vibrations in front of him, sending out a wave of psychic energy. Pillar shoot backwards with a great amount of force, rolling into the tall grass that surrounded all of us and I heard a thumping as his body slammed against a tree.

"Pillar!" I yelled, though I was less concerned about his well being than my reputation. I peered into the darkness, eyes scanning the forest that was in front of me. Among the various berry tress, Pine trees, and Oak - of the like that looked as if they'd been there since the beginning of time - was no sign of Pillar.

"It seems as if the winner of this battle is-" the referee was cut off as Pillar came streaking out, looking a little worse for wear - He had the beginning of bruises on his abdomen, but in terms of significant and lasting injuries, he was totally fine.

"Ok Pillar, let's go for another Quick attack." Minun glanced up at me with a sort of annoyance and cunning and then-

The little bitch decided to ignore me and began rubbing his paws together furiously.

"Pillar, what the fuck are you doing?" I asked in shock; I could already hear murmurs and chuckles as my pokemon refused to listen to me. "Quick attack, not- not whatever you're doing right now." Still he ignored and rubbed his paws together more furiously, hopping out of the way of subsequent confusion attacks that rippled across space. The murmurs increased to full on whispers and the laughter became raucous. A wave of subtle horror rushed through me as I thought I'd become a laughing stock, a mockery.

It was another tense moment or two before I heard it, a soft cracking sound - a buzz of the lightest kind that increased in volume as time moved on - and then I realized what my pokemon was doing - generating electricity. I mentally beat myself up for not thinking about using his abilities in the first place.

"Bobo, go with barrier to prep yourself for whatever's coming at ya." Andy kept that same stupid smile on his face he wore all the time. The kind that was completely ignorant of what was about to happen, but I didn't mind it this time.

Releasing a shriek , Pillar sparked with it electricity as he sends out a wave of thunder that phases through the barrier, rendering it useless. The thunder waves hits its target and the pink plush toy body seizes and locks up as paralysis sets in.

Thunderwave was a success - Pillar was much more combat smart than I thought him to be.

The murmurs died and the laughter dissipated - I saved a smile for myself, Pillar wasn't half bad.

"Alright, Nuzzle now Pillar." Using the same electricity from the first charge, Pillar ran up and slapped Bobo as hard as he could with his electrified paws. You can hear the cracking and the sizzling of skin when he made contact, and the satisfying _whack_ sound filled the air as the attack finished. A small bright burst of light from the electric contact lit up the night and illuminated the field. The rat pokemon slid across the ground and laid at the feet of his trainer paralyzed in defeat.

"Come on Bobo get up." But the electricity running through his veins from the thunder wave coupled with the Nuzzle, locked the pokemon in a prison of Negative ions.

"Gerand Yates is the winner of this battle," I smiled to myself in wonderment of me winning my first pokemon battle.

It wasn't the most exciting of battles, but I felt proud to have one my first pokemon battle - especially, as I told myself at the time, with a pokemon as low tiered as Pillar. I even celebrated with the little guy, letting him jump on my neck and lick on my face as he sparked with triumph.

"Watch it now," I said with a laugh when a spark zapped my nose. When he didn't calm down, I returned him.

The next five battles proceeded without much of a hitch. Laney beat Johnny, Phillip beat Tom, etcetera, etcetera. It was some time before the final match of the preliminaries ended, and even more time was needed for a break to let the pokemon and their trainers catch their breath and get their bearings before the next round. My bladder was screaming for release, so I broke away from the group and headed deeper into the forest to piss before the next round started.

I tried not to go too far off, maybe only a good two minute walk away from the battlegrounds, anything for some needed privacy. At the time, and even now sometimes, I found the most solace in being alone - especially when I had to use the bathroom. I walked on the beaten, human developed path of route 201, overflowing with weeds and snaky vines. Right outside of Sandgem town and Lake Verity, route 201 has always been rumored to harbor something special to the pokemon world. A pile of shit if you asked at the time, but after some of things that I've seen now, I'd think twice before dispelling any myth.

I found a good, large berry tree to pee on, hidden from view by a couple of bushes. Release was so nice.

Once, I had finish peeing, a good minute or so, I walked back. When I arrived, I was shocked. There was no one there. All traces of human activity had cleared out, spare the crudely cut circle in the ground.

"Huh where is everyone?"

"Mr. Yates." My heart stopped.

"Coach Myers." I heaved out, turning around with my heart pounding in my chest.

"And what was it you were doing out here?"

"Oh nothing at all, just a light stroll. Nothing major nope -"

"Get your ass back to your dorm room, or you'll be doing more than nothing."

And that's how my Battle Royale ended.

* * *

For the next couple of days leading up to graduation, I was on edge. Teachers and administrators were cracking down on students as the fateful Day of Ceremony drew near. Someone already lost their walking privileges because of some prank in the girls locker room. I had thrown caution to the wind, and I was praying that the weather didn't send punishment back.

Oddly enough I found my solace in Pillar. He had really proven himself during his battle, granted, I needed to work on his listening skills, but he had showed great promise in terms of instinct and natural intuition. I kept him out of his pokéball more, allowing him to walk beside me, and occasionally, _occasionally,_ let him climb up on my shoulder when I was feeling generous.

Tensions were really high whenever I had to go to my Application of Battling class. I felt Myers' eyes of criticism boring into my soul. I was sure he had already told administration of my, and the rest of my classmates, little outing, and I had no doubt that the heaviest punishments were going to be laid out. I could feel his stare as we ran drills in the gym with the shoddy wooden floors that needed a desperate new coat of wax. He'd cross his arms and I could him thinking out a punishment of a lifetime.

I just didn't know when.

So I lived the next couple of days in a sense of subtle paranoia, nerves sparking and neurons firing whenever anything seemed out of place - and that was a lot as graduation approached.

Eventually our schedules were all shortened with only classes pertaining to battling, survival, and the upkeep of our pokemon kept. It took the stress off of some things; no longer did I have to remember dates like the discovery of the super potion (1968), or when the Kanto and Hoenn Revolutionary war ended (1848), or how and why the settlement of Unova occurred (curse Sinnohan colonialism). Anything I learned now, for the next two weeks, would be privy to my eventual adventure away from class.

* * *

"Would Gerand Yates please report to the Administrator Kline's?"

 _'Fuck, this is it.'_ I thought, making my way across the campus of the boarding school to the office of our headmaster. The sky was a depressing gray, clouds coating the sky in a thick blanket. Yard workers were outside that day, making sure the upkeep of the lawns was taken care of. Two to three people were in each circular patch of grass operating lawn mowers, or pruning sheers, or weed whackers.

The main building of the campus was in the very center. It was a rather grand structure, stacked together with crimson red bricks and white marble pillars that seemed to speak volumes about the astuteness of my institute. Upon entering, one was instantly met with a sense of light. Though the building was made of brick, there were plenty of windows to let in the sun, brightening up the grand hall as it bounced off the white walls and white tiled floor. I cut across the marble floor and climbed three flights of stairs, cursing the gods who decided that all these stairs without an elevator was needed. It was only a hop, skip, and a jump to the Administrator's room.

I knocked and then let myself in when I heard a strong "enter."

I had met Admin. Kline several times. He was the head of the student affairs organization, and with his normal duties of organizing student activities and keeping the peace between us and the teachers, came a higher amount of interaction with the student body. He was a thin man, his calves about the size of my own wrists and his arms noodle-y and flimsy. He had curly brown hair and a thick, broccoli nose that held even thicker glasses. Despite his awkward, nerdy appearance, he was loved by us students for his kind demeanor and, surprisingly enough, prowess on the battle field.

"Ahh Mr. Yates," he flashed a bright, genuine smile, "just the man I was looking for." His smile put me at a bit of ease, but my heart was still beating a mile a minute.

"Hey Dr. Kline." I replied, my eyes flashing to his doctorates in education and pokemon biological studies that were neatly placed on his desk.

"Mr. Yates, I'm assuming you know why you're here? Though you do know what they say about assuming." His joke was met by forced laughter. "I probably should not joke like that in front of a student, but I think I can trust you to keep this between us," he said with a wink. "Anyway, jokes aside, I called you to my office to talk about graduation."

Oh shit, this was it, he was gonna tell me that I couldn't walk, or I couldn't even graduate. My heart sped at a million beats per second, and I felt the sweat collect in my hands and, impulsively, I said:

"Dr. Kline you have to believe me! I didn't even want to go, I was tricked, _duped_ even! The battle royal wasn't even supposed to be last week, but I thought, you know, since I'm already there why not participate."

"Mr. Yates?"

"And for another thing, my partner pokemon is a minun so it's not like I could even do any lasting damage to anyone even if I wanted to, which, to clarify, I don't. But can we discuss that, why the _fuck_ was I given a minun! Don't get me wrong, Pillar's grown on me, but how am I supposed to survive out in the wild with a class C, BARELY class C electric pokemon. I'm just glad I wasn't given a Pachirisu, that really would've hurt my pride. I'm in the top three of my class, I'm just a little confused."

"Gerand."

"And to top it all of, I'm about to be expelled before graduation and that-"

"Expelled?"

"-I can't handle that, I literally cannot handle not having my official trainer's license."

"Mr. Yates!" Dr. Kline finally yelled. I stopped mid-sentence, grasping for a breath. Damn, I had a fast mouth. "Mr. Yates, if you would take a second to calm down, you would understand this has nothing to do with the battle royal, which I must say I find incredibly responsible but that's beside the point." He took a breath to regain his composure and I did the same. He took a hand a rubbed his curls backwards, a smile returning on his face. " This has everything to do with graduation though. You're in the top of your class so you're to give a speech, albeit very short. No pressure at all."

"Oh," I said, sense coming back to me. "I totally forgot I had to."

"Yes, Mr. Yates, oh." Dr. Kline laughed heartily and wiped a tear from his eye, his eccentricity striking like electricity. "Now it doesn't have to be anything long. Third in the class usually gives a two to five minute speech, highlighting things they've learned during the year, things you're looking forward to etcetera, etcetera. Please, please, please, do not run over five minutes. If I had 100 dollars for every time someone went over, well then I would have 700 dollars at least."

I furrowed my brows at his attempt at a joke

"Well ok Dr. Kilne, I'll get on it immediately."

"And Gerand," he said before I could leave, "appreciate your pokemon because they can always tell when you don't." He winked at me as I let the door close behind me.

* * *

Well this was it: Graduation. The weeks leading up to them were grueling - a series of finals, aptitude tests, more finals, late night coffee runs, and late night studying. But all of it was worth it. I'd passed all my finals with Ace grades - bar my journalism elective, but when was I ever gonna need that?

I stared into the mirror, moving my black tassel from my eyes. I smiled brightly in the mirror, eyes taking in everything. Our gowns were a silver that shimmered with every movement, a nice look until we were out in the heat in the open air pokemon stadium.

That was it, my graduation - the beginning of the rest of my life as a trainer. I had no idea what would be ahead of me and I was excited for the prospects to come: oh how naive and innocent I was.

I turned around to Pillar fiddling with his own little cap that I had got him. He hated having it on his head, but I told him that if he kept it on, I'd leave him out of his pokeball more often. It was strange how much he could understand me. I guessed it was because he was a pokemon bred and raised to be able to handle and command easily, but it was still a shock when he would respond to my questions and comments like a real person. He slapped at his tassel, bouncing it from paw to paw and even I had to admit that it was pretty cute.

"Come on kiddo," I commanded with my arm lowered to his level. He climbed up my arm and found a comfortable place on my shoulder.

We were lined up according to number, so I was at the front, albeit two spots away from the very front. In front of me was Summer Rhodes, a girl who had transferred into our school two years ago. She was pleasant enough, incredibly intelligent, but her battling skills needed work. She was much to rash and took too many risks in my opinion and formulated ideas on a whim, whether she was sure they would work or not. Her pokemon was a pretty good one though, a ghastly that acted as impulsively as she did. The gas pokemon had fucked with our classes so many times she wasn't allowed to have him out in class for the last two weeks of school.

Behind me was Nathan, he had been insulting me all day while we prepared for the day. I was just happy that Pillar and Sasha, his vulpix, got along. His vulpix was a bit of a snobby brat, snubbing off any pokemon she didn't deem worthy her time. She was sassy and most of the time it caused Nathan grief which I was totally ok with.

At the very front of the line was our number one: Scott Sterling - even his name was perfect. Not only was the kid incredibly smart, highest scores out of anyone in the history of the school, but he was known as one of the most attractive guys on campus, girls and guys falling all over him like stantler shot by tranquilizers. He was weird, though, in my opinion. He was a little reclusive and never really interacted with most of the student body except a select few - one of them being Alexandra. Not to say he was quiet and shy all the time, but he did what he needed to do and that was usually the end of it.

I didn't like him.

Nor did I like that his pokemon was better than mine. He had an elektrike, electric pokemon known for their prowess and fierceness on the battle field, not to mention their evolution was known to have some of the best electric impulse control when trained correctly, scattering thunderclouds around battlefields and raining down thunderous hell from the heavens themselves.

Regardless of how I felt about him, I did have to admit that he was good - and he's still good now that I think about it.

Anyway, the ceremony had gone off without a hitch for the most part. We stood through the pledge of allegiance - pokemon league allegiance of course. We couldn't dedicate ourselves to a region yet without knowing which ones we were gonna be assigned to yet. The headmaster, Lucas Steele, an old man, hair graying a tell-tell sign of his skill and knowledge in and outside of battle, but his smile holding a softness that made him incredibly approachable, gave a speech entreating us all to do the school proud. We all knew he was a force to be reckoned with. He was a champion in the past, conquering the Sinnoh league with his Torterra that stood firmly by him.

It was finally time for the speeches. The fifth in our class led us in a prayer that I rolled my eyes through. Nathan gave a short spiel thanking the parents and faculty for supporting us and then it was my turn. I'm not gonna bore any of you with too many details - it was a speech like anyone else's, I gave the usual bullshit spiel about how all of us were going to go one to do great things, but we all know this was a farce. I grinned and bore it through the speech and rejoiced when I finally left the stage. The rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch, I walked across the stage, receiving my diploma and file stating what region I was going to be shipped off to.

At the end, before we all threw our caps in a celebratory sign of finalization, the headmaster took the stage one more time.

"Students, I have the delight to say that we have two former students here to demonstrate the skills they have picked up not only from their travels, but no doubt had picked up from the school. After the ceremony, if time and circumstance allows, you may all head to Stadium 1 to watch the battle at 3:00 pm."

It was 12:00, and there was no way I would miss what my future could be if I survived in the trainer world.

I quickly made my way to my room, stopping for pictures with my now former classmates, and changed into something more comfortable - stadium seating was so not the move.

I texted my mom that I was in my room, so the rest of the family could see me before they left. My dad, sister, and an array of aunts and uncles had paid visit to see me graduate. My sister was a trainer herself, who'd graduated eight years before me. The twenty-three year old women was powerful and I'd hoped to elevate past her skill.

Three sharp knocks on my door later, my family crowded in my small dorm room. Extended family didn't stay for too long, hugging me and kissing my cheeks and leaving so they could " _miss that damned traffic influx"_ as my uncle said.

My sister sat on my bed, a backpack next to her that she held protectively to her side.

"Oh your father cried honey, it was just the most... pansy thing I'd seen in a while." My mother heartily laughed and slapped my back, nearly knocking me over. My mother trained fighting types and years of working out and training with them made her as strong as a machamp on most days. My dad's face reddened and he chuckled the insult off.

"Oh Linda, and you wonder why we got divorced." They had divorced a little after I was born, a mutual agreement that both agreed to and they managed to stay friends afterwards. There were just some differences you couldn't overcome.

"Anyway, Gerand, we have to be on our way now. I drove your mother here and I have a meeting in Johto in the morning with the training counsel thing to iron some things out for their next league tournament." My father was one of the head coordinators for pokemon leagues across the globe. He made sure everything ran smoothly and also made sure that the applicants were qualified to actually participate in the tournament of that caliber.

Mom and Dad said their final goodbyes and left, my mom slamming the door.

"Well, you've been awfully quiet 'Thia." My sister's blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders, framing her face like a smooth lion's mane. Her eyes were a piercing blue, adding to her personality of subdued austerity.

"You know how being around the family makes me."

"You know how being around you makes them."

"Touché." She stared blankly at me and my eyes shifted from side-to-side in discomfort.

She smirked, her ego satiated and said, "I'm not gonna stay here any longer than I have to," she sighed, moving her backpack to her lap. She unbuckled the clip and with a 'humph' took out a large glass case that held

"An egg!"

"Yep, little brother, an egg. How exciting," she flatly said. "My spiritomb managed to have children and I'ss will spare you the details on how that happened. I don't have room for that many pokemon on my team and this was a way I could rid of one of the extras."

The white egg sat on heavy padding inside of the reinforced protective case.

"Do you know what it is?"

"No, but I have my ideas, but I can't know for sure until later. The egg is white, all eggs start out white before further development and change color as the pokemon inside grows. Did you actually learn anything while you were here?" She raised a blonde eyebrow and smirked. "Take it though, it's yours, I'm tired of being here in this...place. Brings back unwanted memories."

She hated her time here, thinking it a waste of her god given talents as a trainer. Cynthia took the case and put it on my dresser.

"Call me when it hatches, I'd like to know what you ended up being cursed with." She chuckled and walked out the door, her heels clicking as she walked down the hall.

"Bitch," I mumbled under my breath.

* * *

I laid in my bed, waiting for 2:30 to roll around so I could meet my friends at the stadium. I hadn't opened my diploma yet, my mind too nervous to see what my future held.

My phone vibrated.

 _"About to head to the stadium see you there bitch :) - Nathan"_

I sighed as I got up. It was now or never if I was gonna see where I was gonna be headed. Picking up the diploma off the dresser, I thought:

 _"This is it,"_ and broke the seal and opened the cover.

Hoenn, here I come


	5. Chapter 5

In order to get to Hoenn, I had two options to choose from - a ferry from Canalave City to the bustling port town of Slateport on the southern coast of Hoenn, or a plane from the commercial district of Jubilife City to the Devon Corporation Airport in Rustboro city. Each option had its benefits, but I went with the ferry simply because Canalave was a bit closer to the school than Jubilife. The school was located on the western end of Route 18, so it was only an hours journey from Canalave compared to the day trip I'd have to take to get to Jubilife.

Bryant had left the day before me, he had a further journey than me - they sent him off to Kanto, but I knew that wasn't gonna be the last time I would see him, and like always, I was right.

Ok. Maybe not always

I had thoroughly packed my bag for the trip, maybe a little too thoroughly. I had my dad buy me a deluxe traveler's pack so I could store all the stuff that I wouldn't even need. I had three water bottle holders, but only had one water bottle, twenty pockets filled with an array of toiletries, potions, food supplies, two survival kits, five first aid kits, and four extra pockets for books I wanted to read while traveling. You could never have too much literature right?

The ferry was set to leave the dock at eight that morning, so I took my leave around six, but not without company. Nathan had also been assigned Hoenn, so the Hoenn native would be coming with me much to my benefit. Sadly, Alex was staying in Sinnoh, her assignment keeping her close to home, though she didn't mind too much. Like me she had been raised in the industrialized nation and was used to its customs.

Much to my disappointment, Scott had also been assigned to Hoenn, but hopefully with luck and skill I could avoid him.

I had no such luck.

The hour walk was uneventful, it was early in the morning so nocturnal pokemon were starting to rest up and diurnal pokemon were still asleep, saving energy for the busy day ahead of them. The egg case was nice and secure, tied to my bag with a buckle system that my backpack had come with. Nathan was fiddling with his new toy that I had the pleasure of receiving myself - a pokédex. His was a matte gray with a black stripe on the back, the black ending in circle around the flashlight on the cover on the encyclopedia.

The pokédex was a god send tool to have. Not only did it tell you basic information about your own pokemon's strengths and weaknesses, but it also provided information on they best way to take care of different pokemon species, had a map function, and acted as a phone if needed.

It could be a hindrance at some points too, though. Don't get me wrong, it's a great tool and I still use it to this day, but sometimes things needed to be experienced rather than just read.

"You're gonna love it there man. Hoenn is so much better than stuffy Sinnoh, the skies are clearer, the food fresher, the ladies finer," he slyly smirked at me and laughed, his faint Primaldian, the language of Hoenn, accent almost undetectable.

"Ladies aren't our main concern and our food is just fine," I indignantly remarked.

"If I ever have to eat another rancher's pie I may have to kill myself."

"You could use some more rancher's, you're getting a little noodle-y," I replied, poking at his arms.

Our banter continued for a few more moments before we fell back into our comfortable silence, finally reaching Canalave in what seemed like five minutes. The sun was finally starting to emerge brighter, rays of sunshine warming my skin. Canalave was a small port town, not known for a lot except being the former base of our Floatzle regime during the war twenty years ago. It was a shell of what it used to be, the city formatted in a very structured and rigid manor. The layout spoke volumes of its military past.

We made our way to the docks with about thirty minutes to spare before our ferry would be setting off. It was a small water vessel, appropriately sized for our two day journey to Hoenn. An old, dingy little ship that probably could have used some remodeling and renovations. The line wasn't long so we made our way onto the ship with no problems with the help of the crew which comprised of sailors and their pokemon - typically machop, meditates, and a few ambipoms here and there . After showing our tickets and a quick inspection of our bags we headed onto the boat.

"How about we head to our lodging first and then meet in the dining hall for some breakfast," Nathan suggested and I nodded in agreement.

The cabins were small to say to the least. There was really only room for a small twin bed, a really small desk, and an awkwardly placed toilet and sink placed right next to the bed. The bathrooms were located down the hall, so I guess this was a bit more convenient for any late night shit trips. I carefully placed my bag down on the floor and removed the egg case, placing it on the desk. I plopped down on the bed, my back protesting in pain as the mattress left much to be desired. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone.

' _TO: Alex_

 _Made it on the ferry, the boat leaves in like fifteen minutes. I'll call later tonight if I have service :p'_

I waited a few moments, rolling Pillar's pokeball in my hands before I got a response.

 _'From: Alex_

 _Coolio, I set off tomorrow night, don't do anything too stupid on the boat, I'll be expecting the call… service or not so make it happen._

 _P.S. Tell Pillar I said hi and keep Nathan in line. Love you. 3'_

I rose up, smiling to myself and pulling out Pillar's pokéball. Pokémon were allowed out as long as they weren't too big or dangerous and, thankfully, Pillar was neither - whether I was thankful for this or not was still being determined. In a flash of light Pillar appeared from his ball and immediately took to curiously checking his surroundings. He bolted around, sniffing the air and rubbing against everything to acquaint himself with the quaint room.

"Hey, enough of that, it's time to eat." His ears and countenance perked up at the mention of food and he twirled up my leg and stomach and perched himself on my shoulder, licking me much to my annoyance.

Breakfast consisted of pancakes, bacon, eggs, grits, cheese toast, jellied toast, a breakfast rancher's pie, and orange juice to wash it all down. I thought I didn't know when my next good meal was gonna be so why squander any moment - even though the ferry ride lasted until the next afternoon. Nathan and I passed through the meal with idle chit chat, nothing too important on our minds. We discussed travel plans and were happy with what we had come up with at the time - we would stay together until our separate paths, that led to two very different ends, diverged. I had every intention to take on the gym circuit and the eventual league while Nathan had his eyes set on pursuing a career as a scientist.

"Hoenn's circuit is nothing to play with, my family was telling me about the new champion who shook the training world over there, so don't think it's gonna be easy."

"Your confidence in me is inspiring Nate, I thank you," I sarcastically replied with a dramatic bow.

"That's not what I'm saying, all I'm saying is that you're gonna be out of your element sometimes, and you take things hard sometimes when they don't go your way."

"What? I am the complete embodiment of composure and the pure essence of calm."

"Yeah, sure, whatever. All I'm saying is that it's gonna be a hard road for _both_ of us," he said with a smile and a chuckle.

The meal continued in general silence afterwards as I thought about what he had said. I knew things were gonna be hard, the circumstance of my starter already put me leagues behind everyone, but I thought he was exaggerating the extent of the difficulties I would face - and I wish he had been.

I miss Nathan, if I could see him again, I would tell him about all the things he was right about.

After breakfast we went out on the deck of the ferry and ventured around. It wasn't a large vessel by any means, but there was enough to keep the passengers entertained for the trip. A game room was on the same floor as the bedrooms, the cafeteria was right off the main deck, and on a lofted area above the deck was a pool and a training field for trainers who wanted to keep their pokemon limber. It was a nice ferry for how small it was.

Pillar loved the open air, relishing in the sea breeze and salty air. He terrified me when he jumped off my shoulder and onto a railing where the only thing keeping him from falling into the ocean was air and good luck. Nathan's vulpix on the other hand was having a less than grand time on the boat, constantly putting itself back into its pokéball.

"You need to get a handle on him."

"What can I say, he's a diva."

The first part of the day passed without a hitch. We looked around a bit more, ate lunch, and then hit the training area to hone in on some skills. I must say I was getting more and more impressed with Pillar as I trained with him more. His electric impulse control was getting better. The pokédex said with the proper training, minun could make balls of lightning, pom-poms kind of, and use them in battle, and Pillar could now maintain a ball of electricity for about fifteen seconds now with concentration. Not only that he was getting quicker and smarter too. We still needed to work on him listening to me when it came to the clutch moments, but other than that Pillar's progress gave me hope for the future.

Dinner was nice, nothing too special - hot dogs and burgers were on the menu. I piled my plate full with fries, and Pillar took full advantage, stealing fries whenever I wasn't paying attention. Our meal was going on in a normal fashion until:

"Nathan? Gerand? Hey guys."

"Please tell that isn't who I think it is?" I whispered harshly through my teeth.

"Scott, hey man, how ya doing?" Nate's eyes flashed toward me with a look that said 'play nice.'

"I heard you guys were going to Hoenn, but I didn't know we would choose the same means of transportation. Cool huh?"

' _Who even talks like that?'_ I thought to myself.

"Yeah crazy, out of the two options we chose the same one that was probably the most convenient to us." I rolled my eyes until it felt like my eyes were going to pop out, while I replied.

"That wit of yours, I love it Gerand." Scott chuckled and wiped a blonde strand of hair from his eyes. "Well I've got to get going, Princess gets nervous in the room when I'm not there. I'd be surprised if she hasn't torn up the room by now."

"Yeah wouldn't want that, it would be best if you got going." I replied

"We'll see you later Scott. Try to meet up with us when we dock tomorrow afternoon." I shot Nate a look of annoyance.

"Alright, see you guys in the morning." Scott walked away to go off and feed 'Princess,' his Eletrike.

"Subtle dude, real subtle." Nathan said, rolling his eyes, and I just shrugged my shoulders.

The next morning I woke up with a ball of excitement in my heart and butterfrees in my stomach. We would be arriving at Slateport City approximately at three according the itinerary. A quick breakfast, a training session, and packing a later, the ferry let out a mighty roar, signaling the approaching port of our presence. It would be nice to get rid of my sea legs for now, even though I'd only been on the boat for a short amount of time.

Nathan and I stood on the deck of the boat taking in the nearing horizon of Slateport city. The air smelled of salt and industry, the skies were filled with wingulls, tailows, duckletts, braver souls landing on the deck and antagonizing pokemon and people alike. Hovering over the seas, matine and their mantykes flew close to the boat, while magikarp and luvdisc jumped in and out of the water adding to the salty spray in the air.

"Ah there she is, my home!" Nathan's eyes were tearing up as his smile added to the sunshine.

" _Our_ home now buddy," I replied, placing a hand on his shoulder.

The ferry arrived promptly at 2:59 pm, the sun beating down upon our heads with a vengeance. Even on the boat, I could hear the shouts of vendors right on the ocean selling the catch of the day, fresh fruits and vegetables, and trinkets and souvenirs. The lively voices, coated thick with the Primaldian accent, mixed into a cacophony, a cauldron of shouts, laughter, and response that spoke miles of the genial nature of the people of Hoenn.

Check out was fairly easy and the my first step onto Hoenn soil was complete.

Hoenn was so, IS so…lively. The famous Slateport open air market was filled to the brim with people - vendors and customers alike. There were booths for freshly caught seafood - tentacool caught that morning, their tentacles still moving in the sweltering heat. Corphish -colored a red so ferocious it was no wonder that they were known as the demons of the sea and their evolution, Lucifer himself - were piled upon each other in a giant tank, their dangerous claws, that could snap with enough force to rip through human flesh with ease, were taped together. There were vendors for fruits, vegetables, grains, cheeses, candies, even furniture.

Walking through the giant throng of people proved to be harder than I'd imagined. Every step I took I had to follow up with an "I'm sorry" or "Excuse me" because there was no to not knock into people. I had just apologized for bumping into a person when I felt a tug on my arm. A vendor, a woman who couldn't be any younger than sixty, smiled brightly as I turned around and looked at her.

"Look here, the freshest pecha berries this side of Hoenn. For you, a discount." With her Primaldian dialect here "r's" sounding weird to me.

"No thank you," I replied sheepishly, slowly starting to turn around.

"You sure?" A nod confirmed my decision and she continued, "Then what about that egg, are you looking to sell, I'll exchange nicely for it."

The thought of selling the egg hadn't even crossed my mind. Selling this to a non-breeder could bring me a pretty penny, but I had not interest.

"Not interested," I said with a tone of finality and turned around; I could hear her mumbiling under her breath.

I pushed forward, moving faster eventually catching up to Nate, who had his Vulpix on top of his head.

"Get lost yet?" He asked with a touch of a chuckle. I rolled my eyes and kept pace next to him. "He should be at the front of the market. I'm telling you, you're gonna love Nort, he's kind of serious like you."

"I am not serious," I said with a tone of resentment, but he waved me off with a flick of his wrist.

The giant crowd of people started to dissipate as we got further and further away from the docks, as were the booths. Now, one could see more of the scenery. Slateport was a flat town, with only a few rolling hills that sparsely surrounded the town. Most of it was grass and ash roads, speaking miles of the composition of Hoenn, being formed from volcanic activity - activity rumored to be the influence of some legendary beast called Groundon, but rumors were just that to me at the time - rumors.

"Nort!" I heard Nathan yell as he took off in a sprint. His backpack bounced awkwardly against his back, dragging down his speed, but still the naturally muscular kid was still as swift as the wind. His body crashed into his cousin's with a mighty 'umph;' Nathan held on tightly to his brother while his Nort's arms flailed lamely to the sides.

"Lots of contact, Natey, gon' soft on me," his brother said sarcastically, with a hint of a smile on his lips.

"Ahh fuck off; it's been a long time."

"Four years isn't that long," Nort replied.

They continued on in this fashion, with light talk, catching each other up with things that happened in each other's lives during these four years. I stood awkwardly to the side, waiting for the right moment to interject myself into the conversation. I gently cleared my throat to get Nathan's attention.

"Oh yeah, Nort this is my friend Gerand Yates; Gerand this is my brother Norton. He's a little lame at first, just give him some time." Nort responded with a healthy slap on Nathan's neck.

"Nice to meet you Nort," I extended my hand for a handshake.

"Pleasantries are all mine Yates," Nort replied, slapping my hand instead of shaking it. I drew it back with some confusion that Nate just laughed off.

"Let's just get home. Gerand, you're gonna love my sis' cookin'; my momma taught her everything she knows." Nathan grabbed my arm, and, with a smile, started running in the direction of his home.

* * *

Nathan's family lived right outside Slateport city's beach. It was a cute little home, painted a sea-foam green - an appropriate color for its setting. The music of wind chimes filled the air as we stepped on the front porch, the sea breeze bringing a salty freshness to our noses. Before Nathan could even get the door open, it burst open. A lithe figure with copper skin and dyed red hair crushed Nathan in a hug, ladle swinging widly in the air.

"Natty! Oh Natty, you're home!"

"Nara, please, you're embarrassing me."

His protests were met with an even tighter hug and kisses all over his face.

"I've you missed you too Nara." Nathan finally said, settling into the hug, his arms wrapping around her back. Nara finally pulled back with a soft smile and a sigh.

"Look at how much you've grown," she said rubbing his hair with childish glee. "I'm gonna have to start lookin' up at ya' soon Natty." She played with his hair some more before finally looking over his shoulder. "And you must be Gerand," extending her hand.

"Nice to meet you Nara," I replied shaking her hand.

"Leave that hand shakin' outside, Gerry, we're all family here." I nervously rubbed the back of my hand with a sheepish smile. "Now, dinner's almost ready, you guys get all cleaned up before it's finished."

Dinner was amazing. Nara, Nate's sister had a whipped up a meal a few dishes sort of a feast, but there was still so much to eat. Glazed wings with a tangy dipping sauce, grilled asparagus, fried magikarp, baked wiscash, steamed tentacool, the list was endless and I indulged myself on every piece of it.

"Not missing Rancher's right now huh Gerand?"

"Oh shut up."

Dinner passed in a nice fashion. There was loads of talk, Nate's family was huge. He had a five brothers in total and two sisters. His father was out of town for work and expressed his condolences on missing his son's homecoming.

"Pop's hardly ever home, so it's no biggie," Nate said when I threw him a concerned look.

Sadly, their mother had passed away some years back, right before Nate had left for school, but the family had this optimistic look that I found inspiring.

The meal continued in a cacophony of conversation, laughter, and the sound of forks scraping any remaining food off of everyone's plates.

It was the best meal I was gonna have for a while. After that night, we would head North and start our way towards Mauville city. Eventually, the meal ended, dishes were cleaned, and it was time to head to bed to prepare for the next day - the official start of my trek across next morning passed in a blur of tears, hugs, and kisses. Nate's younger brothers and sisters barely paid us any attention, but his sister Nara toted over us so much I thought we would never leave. She was all over Nathan with a flurry of embraces and kisses; she even laid a big one on my cheek.

"Be safe boys! Don't talk to strangers, don't eat anything strange, oh! and if you ever get to Fortree city say hi to Winona for me," Nara yelled as we headed down the road to route 110.

Once again, we decided to hit the pavement before the sun had reached it's apex in the sky. The road was illuminated by the circular movement and rhythm of the Oceanic lighthouse. It's motion soothed my preliminary nerves. Rumor had it that if you went deep enough and walked long enough in the oceanic beacon , you'd find yourself in the lighthouse of Johto, powered by the energy of the soul of an old ampharos. Even more farfetched, it was said that Slateport's lighthouse wasn't just a safeguard for ships and their crews, but also a beacon for the unknown legendary beasts residing in the ocean, calling them forth when the time was needed. These legendary pokemon would protect Slateport and its inhabitants with every last ounce of strength they possessed.

I don't know how farfetched I think that is now.

Route 110 was right next to the famed biking road. Hoenn was famous for being the starting point of legendary bike races that happened trans-regionally. Trainers and regulars alike would all take to their cycles to prove their endurance, but I had no time to fantasize about bike racing, I was much too focused on my goal to becoming champion to even consider that. The route was about a two days trek until Mauville, so we would need to camp for the night. I was nervous about my first camping trip, but I knew with both of our heads put together too much couldn't go wrong.

Right?

Route 110 was a large strip of land, bordered by two rivers - The Grand Twins - on either side of it. It was a large, long, and broad piece of route that seemed to bridge Lilycove to the rest of the region as the region floated in the middle of the two rivers. Mauville city was on the other side of it, and we were gonna spend a good three days in the wilderness in order to get there. I was excited to finally put everything I had learned to the test, not even once doubting if I was really ready.

"Ok, according to the map on the dex, we should be heading northwest in order to get to Mauville, anywhere else ends with us just hitting water on the eastern twin," I said, fixedly looking at my green pokedex. I closed by dex with my eyes closed and a sigh of satisfaction. "Nothing too hard right?"

"Shouldn't be. I checked and this route has a threat level of only three; with our biggest fear being packs of elektrike." Threat levels were a classification system used by trainers to determine the danger of areas around the world. They were periodically updated every month or so, with new news of invasive species or flare ups in pokemon populations, and with that reassurance of safety, we set foot onto route 110, heads filled with excitement and wonderment of our first trek on our journey.

* * *

Let me tell you something, that first night was shit and wonderment was a complete lie.

The walking was incessant, never ending, tedious, and tiring. By the time we had made for camp in an area pretty close to the smooth running water of the western Twin, I could feel the cramps in my muscles starting to form their own cramps. Sitting down offered little bliss because the only thing my ass could find more comfortable than the ground was my sleeping bag which provided only minimal solace.

And if we're being honest, I was scared shitless of almost everything. A rustle in a bush could be a manetric waiting to strike its next victim with lightning, a buzz could be a colony of combee and beedrill, ready to bore holes into my body, and a breeze easily could have been a skarmory ready to swoop down and make minced meat out of me with it's sharp talons and metallic beak. Despite these imagined dangers, I managed to keep my nerves under wrap with the ample interactions with pokemon we actually had- oddish, elektrike, and a few zigzagoon had been all that we had seen, providing great training for our pokemon, but they said the deeper you went into Route 110, the more dangerous the pokemon became. We had decided to stick to the edge, keeping only a thin veil of trees between us and the western Twin. The part of the route we were on was the area that most trainers took, so the makeshift road was pretty smooth, the grass stamped into the earth, making an evergreen impression. However, to the east of us was a dense, almost jungle like environment holding dangers and skulking creatures looking for their next meal.

We had a nice campfire going, credit going to Nathan's vulpix Coal. The fire's purpose was to keep our area lit, the moon barely providing enough light for us before we needed to sleep. I wiped some sweat from my forehead, the humidity of the air soaking through my clothing. I wanted to get rid of the fire honestly, but I understood why we needed it. I had a book curled in my lap and without the fire I wouldn't be able to read. We didn't see the need for tents, it didn't look like it was going to rain and the stars were so beautiful that night

Pillar was curled in front of the fire. The heat didn't seem to bother him and I remembered the Minun and their counterpart, Plusle, thrived in Hoenn, their populations being higher here than in any other region.

"Not too bad for a first day, eh?" Nathan said unexpectedly. He was fiddling with his pokédex some more, trying to figure out anything else about it that could be useful for us.

"I guess not, not as lavish as I thought it was gonna be though," I replied, flicking my finger over the corner of a page in my book. "I say we get up early tomorrow, so we can cover more ground." Nathan agreed and went back to his pokédex. I closed my book, dog earring the top corner of the page I was on, and flipped over putting my back on the ground and my eyes towards the night sky. Maybe because I had grown up there, but the stars in Sinnoh never seemed to shine that brightly as the stars did in Hoenn that night. This sky in Hoenn was...lustrous, unsullied by the light pollution of the city. The blanket of dark violet was dotted by millions and millions of celestial, fiery gems that offered an insight into the past. According to research we were 4.24 light years away from our closest star, 114,500 years, back into time if we took the fastest spacecraft we now possessed. Was space so unreachable? Would the unknown forever not be known?

Could I now reach for a star and go back to the past to fix all my mistakes?

Thoughts like these plagued my mind before I closed my eyes, reaching for sleep that was well deserved.

"See you in the morning Pillar."

* * *

I woke up with a jolt and to the sound of a guttural, heavy scream. The air smelled of acid and sulphur; the stench so rancid and present, I could bite it, the taste leaving my mouth dry and yearning for water. My mind could only process a few thoughts initially; I was still groggy and could barely see through the blur in my eyes.

Another jolt widened my eyes and I saw Pillar above me, pressed to my chest. He was growling menacingly, tossing out bolts of electricity here and there, lighting up the night in a bright yellow, swirled with the orange from the now dying fire.

"Pillar what the fuck?" I yelled, tossing him off of me. "Nate, what the fuck is going on he-" I looked across the embers of the fire and my heart skipped a beat.

"AHHHHHHH," I screamed, the shrillness of my voice piercing through the black night like a knife. What I saw still haunts me to this day, and I don't think that demon will ever leave me in peace.

Across from me, next to the waning light of the campfire, Nathan Tiddle, my best friend, was foaming at the mouth, the froth dripping down his face, toward his forward, his eyes expressionless and lifeless as the lower half of his body was being devoured by a purple, blobbed behemoth. I could barely hear Pillar's squeaks as he fired off more electricity, my ears filled with a roar as powerful as a waterfall.

"Stop that!" I shouted, desperately hoping that the beast would listen. "Spit him out now!" I reached for my bag without looking, looking for the hunters knife I had packed away. My left hand brushed up against something smooth and bulbous.

"Gul." I turned my head and saw a round, green globbed figure slithering over my backpack, leaving a trail of slime in its wake.

"Gulpin." I whispered, trying to rack my mind for any facts I could remember on these pokemon. There were prevalent there in Hoenn and the fuckers had the appetite of an army after a battle. "But if this small one is a gulpin, what is..that?" I whispered furiously to myself, turning back to Nathan. His body hadn't seemed to move, the behemoth of a pokemon taking its sweet time eating my friend. I couldn't remember at the time, but the pokemon was a swalot, known for their ferocious appetites and territorial nature. The gulpin had to be part of its all male pack, the males of the species catering to the needs of one or two queens.

Two more gulpin were in front of me trying to reach me with their stubby arms, their toothless mouth opened, lips dripping with a thick green ooze - the numbing agent they use to make their prey unresponsive. Thankfully, Pillar was keeping them at bay with electricity, but I couldn't see a clear way out of this situation.

"Pillar," my voice, laid thick with agony. First day on the job and I was already going to die. "Pillar, what are we gonna do?" I reached my arm out to him before I heard another yell, this one unlike the one I had heard before. This one was deeper, belonging to someone older than me. Unexpectedly, a green claw ripped through the body on the purple giant, it's hand covered in purple ooze. The hand glowed a violent red, and the gulpin around me seized up. Next to the green claw, a a teenager older than me ran up and sliced through the gulpin making their way to their queen with a sickle that sliced clean through the gelatinous bodies like paper.

"Bella, Psychic." The adolescent said, waving his curved blade towards the ground, shaking off the emerald blood of the gulpin. The swalot, whose body was trying to repair the hole ripped into its stomach by the claw, let out a blood curdling screech, a sound so foreign and painful, I can still hear the scream today. Its blind eyes popped out of their sockets and the body shrank as it began collapsing on itself, her mouth heaving out Nathan. My eyes were widened in horror at the spectacle and I couldn't move to check on my best friend.

"Hey buddy, you ok?" The last thing I saw was the figure reaching his arm towards me before I sank to the ground unconscious.


End file.
